Associate Professor. Nick Burns

Room 512, Hughes Building Phone +61 (08) 8303 3965 Fax +61 (08) 8303 3770 nicholas.burns@adelaide.edu.au Personal Page

Area of Research

Human cognitive abilities.

Senior Appointments and Memberships

Editorial Board, Journal of Problem Solving

Awards

My paper The effects of car window tinting on visual performance: A comparison of elderly and young drivers  published in Ergonomics was included among only twelve papers selected by the Australian Psychological Society on the basis that they represented the most interesting or influential research produced by Australian psychologists in the three years 1999 to 2002. These papers were requested by the Science Advisor to the Minister for Education, Science and Training for presentation to Dr Brendan Nelson as outstanding exemplars of the psychological research being carried out in this country.

Psychology Research Interests

We study individual differences in cognitive abilities using modern psychometric instruments, custom computerised tests, and psychophysical methods. Our aim is to understand something of how and why people differ in their abilities to process information and carry out cognitive tasks.

Recent Key Publications

Burns, N.R., Nettelbeck, T., & McPherson, J.L. (2009). Attention and intelligence: A factor analytic study. Journal of Individual Differences, 30, 44-57.

Martin, D.M., Wittert, G., Burns, N.R. & McPherson, J. (2008). Endogenous testosterone levels, mental rotation performance, and constituent abilities in middle-to-older aged men. Hormones and Behavior, 53, 431-441.

Burns, N.R., Bastian, V. & Nettelbeck, T. (2007). Emotional intelligence: More than personality and cognitive ability? In G. Matthews, M. Zeidner and R.D. Roberts (Eds.), Emotional intelligence: Knowns and unknowns. ( pp.167-196). Oxford: Oxford University Press .

Burns, N.R., Nettelbeck, T., McPherson, J.L. & Stankov, L. (2007). Perceptual learning on inspection time and motion perception. Journal of General Psychology, 134, 83-100.

Burns, N.R., Bryan, J., & Nettelbeck T. (2006). Ginkgo biloba: No robust effect on cognitive abilities or mood in healthy young or older adults. Human Psychopharmacology: Clinical and Experimental, 21, 27-37.